Found you again, my dear friend
by AydiStar
Summary: The man Siljas could never forget his friend Trico that had saved him. He wondered what his friend was doing, if he was ok, he wondered this for years. He would tell the children in the village about his adventure with Trico, which they listened to in interest and wonder. One cold winter morning he decides to leave his home to go on a journey to find his dear friend.
1. The start of the journey

Snow was falling from the sky, big snowflakes, big like white, fluffy gloves, hit the ground softly and covered it in white, shining snow. Clouds covered the sky, no grass or leaves in sight, making the village lose it charm it would have in the summer with the big, healthy trees with giant, green leaves that followed the light summer breezes. Bugs would fly around, landing on flowers, spiders made their webs and caught their food, would be covered in the morning dew. The ground would be covered in long grass that brushed against ones naked ankles. Now it was cold and have nothing of that, only snow and darkness. The man Siljas sat in one of the small houses in his village, told stories for the small ones while a storm was coming up outside, the hanging lantern by the door was hitting the wall thanks to the wind, the fire going out. The children sat close to each other as the listened to his stories, he was an old man with many stories to tell but the story he mostly told them was about how he meet the giant creature Trico and how they escaped ruins and caves together and they got a strong bond. Siljas voice were calm as he spoke but inside there was always that pain in his chest when he told them the story, he missed his old friend, has done it since the adults had chased him away when he was just trying to bring him back to his home. With his last powered he had to tell him to get away, which he did, and the big creature never came back, no other Trico ether, didn't have to kidnap more children anymore (if they still were alive out there in the valley), they were free now, nothing had control over them. Siljas was called a hero in the village by most when he had told them his story, how he really had been the right "chosen one", but there were some that didn't like him, thought the old man was crazy, that Trico was an evil being and not something you could be friends with. A few even thought he had lied about everything. Siljas didn't think much about it, they could think what they wanted about him, he knew the truth and most people was on his side. It had been about forty years since he saw his old friend. He wondered what he was doing right now when he was free from the control, did he have a family like Siljas? Was he alive? Had he found a new place to live far far away? He had thought about it for a long time and when the children asked him what happened to Trico, he didn't have an answer for that. All he remembered was the blurry vision of his friend flying away before he had passed out and never saw him again.

-I have no idea, dear children, but I'm sure he's living a good life with a mate." he would say and then they would take that answer even if they looked slightly disappointed but it changed when they started to look at his shield instead, he never thought he would see that again ether. But one day he had found it, half buried in the sand, he knew those symbols it had and had lifted it up. Was this a sign? That Trico was alive and waiting for him? He wasn't sure anymore. But as the days passed he thought he could hear his dear friend call for him in that familiar howling, he dreamed that his friend would come to his window, he would jump on and hold into the soft feathers on his back so he wouldn't fall as they would fly away. Siljas loved his family dearly but the need to see his friend again, to see if he was alright, became stronger everyday and he decided that he would get on a new journey to find him tomorrow before everyone else in the village would wake up and stop him, say good bye to his family. They begged him to stay, his wife Mira had tears in her eyes and his daughter and son wanted to come with him but he couldn't risk that, they were too young and he didn't want them to get hurt, it was a long way to the valley as well. They hugged, he took his biggest, most snow resistant leather boots he had and warm clothes, some food and lastly, the shield. The cold wind hit his cheeks at the first step out before he got used to in and began his walk in the deep snow, towards the woods, away from the village. He waved to his family that waved back.

-Goodbye my dear Mira, Brono and Maya, I will return, I promise." he said.

He walked for hours without stopping and the snow began to fall slowly again. He glanced up at the clouds, the naked tree branches above that reached the skies, the snow flakes that landed on his face softly, his clothes and the already covered ground bellow him. He saw tracks from a deer and what looked like a squirrel's. Barely any birds were singing but he still felt a calming feeling over being in the woods, the silence, the animals around him. An elk was visible further into the forest, away from the path Siljas was walking. It stared at him with its dark eyes, stood tall and majestic, his horns were gigantic and Siljas knew this was an old, wise elk. It didn't look scared, as if he knew Siljas meant no harm, and just looked at him as he walked by before he lowered his head again and continued his search for food in the snow. Siljas smiled. He eventually came out from the forest and out in the unknown, far away from the villages and he breathed in and out before he continued his walk thru other forests and mountains. He had to stop sometimes to rest and eat something. The dark soon came and he hurried to start a fire and rest, the winters quickly became pitch black. He listened to the howling from the wolves close by. He wasn't scared, no animal would hurt him. He felt calm and fell into a deep slumber after just a while of listening to them and the slight, cold breeze and the fire. He pulled his jacket closer and felt the flames give warmth to his freezing body. When he woke up, he was meet by a small vole that stood near the ashes and tree branches he had used, eating something, its nose were twitching and the big cute eyes looked into his.

-Hello, little friend." Siljas said softly and the vole stopped moving for a sec and looked at him, his nose were the only thing that moved, the whiskers were moving slightly as well by the movements and when the man rose up, it moved away quickly but not far away and continued to look as he ate his morning fruit. Siljas threw a small piece to the vole who quickly took it in its small paws and ate together with him. When Siljas was done he stood up on his feet and lifted up his bag and began his walk, he felt the small animal's eyes were looking at him still and when he glanced back, it was standing there and looked after him, even followed him as few steps, watching him until the man had disappeared from sight.


	2. Trico?

Siljas was now really freezing, not even his warm clothes warmed him enough when he now was high up in the mountains, they hadn't been a problem to his young self who would climb mountains, edges, sit on Trico's back and jump from rock to rock, but the years had gotten to him and he found it harder as he climbed and almost slipped many times with his foot or loosed balance.

 _I really am an old man now…_

He glanced up to look at the view from up here, the valleys down there were beautiful and he could only imagine how it would look in the summer. The trees stood tall and close, snow covered the branches, what looked like a lake was visible from between some of them, covered in ice, untouched. The snow glittered from the winter sun that peaked from behind the clouds. Was so big but from up here it seemed much smaller, the wind up here was hard and cold and almost made Silja's eyes watery with tears. But there wasn't that far left before he was in the forest again and wouldn't have to climb the mountains anymore. One of the edges were thing so he had to press his chest against the rock wall and hold into it with shaky hands while he made his feet slide his body forward. His breath was strained from the cold and the sudden fear that gripped him, at the same time as adrenaline spread thru his veins. He had to stoop moving for a couple of seconds before he continued, he would be jut fine, he had done this many times before. Small rocks fell from the edge and a bird was flying by and chirped loudly. He was so close to his coal now and his breath started to calm down slightly. But then suddenly, he slipped, and fell down down… he tried to grab into the stone wall and edge to stop his falling but failed, only scratched his hand on the sharp stones in the process.

Thousands of thoughts filled his brain on the first few seconds while he was falling. He was gonna die, he just knew it. He would never meet his friend or his family again. His dear family, his beautiful Mira, his dear son Brono that wanted to be a protector of the village when he became adult, his adventures daughter Maya who always wanted to go on adventures like Siljas and would sometimes carve tree animals and figures with her trustworthy knife she got from him. He would never be able to learn them now, they wouldn't know what ever happened to him for a long time, would never find him when they would become worried and search for him, his body would hit the ground down there, he would be everywhere and the birds would eat his meat, blood would cover their beaks, if they didn't, something else would. He closed his eyes and tears started to well up and fall down his face. His gut turned in panic and nausea, but instead of continue falling or hit the ground, it stopped. Just like that, he was still in the air, he knew it by the wind and that he didn't feel ground below him. What was happening? Was he flying, was he dead? He didn't dare to open his eyes for long seconds and heard nothing except the wind, but he soon heard something else, like something was breathing and warm air touched him from above his head, brushing against his dark hair. Warm breath. Was it?

He opened his eyes and saw clearly that he was still in the air but now he was moving and he felt the breath brush even harder and he looked up, his vision blurry from the tears in his eyes but he saw a figure, something grey. He swallowed, his throat hurt slightly, and blinked. A giant body covered in feathers…

As he looked up he saw the big muzzle that had carrying him, a small sound escaped it, like a dogs whine and then he saw a glimpse of and eye before he was put down in a safer place on the rocks and he fell down to his button. The giant creature gripped into the rocks, had been hovering over the edge. But was now looking at him with big eyes.

-T-Trico?" he said softly. The giant head before him tilted slightly and the ears lifted slightly in curiosity at the sound of his voice, a small whine like rumbling noise from its throat again. The muzzle moved then closer and sniffed him, the dark, kind eyes looked at him, in recognition. Siljas lifted his hand, which was shaking from the cold and shock. When it touched the creature's soft fur, the man let his tears fall again and he hugged the giant muzzle, as much of it as he could anyway, and buried his face against it.

-Trico… Trico." he mumbled.

Trico's heart felt like it would burst from all the happiness and excitement, he had been right, this was his boy. He was much older and had different clothes and the hair on his head was longer, hair was even on his chin, but it was him. He could smell it, a smell that he ever would forget, and a voice that still held that of the small human child he had become friends with behind the gruffer, mature one, his body still had those tattoos as well. He let out a happy, low sound and leaned into the man's hug. It had been so close that his friend would have left him again, only seconds from it, Trico knew that humans would never had survived that fall. It had felt like the boy had been calling after him, he even noticed that he still had that shield with him. It must have been that he had felt. After long minutes of the man hugging him, he let go and looked into his eyes again.

-I thought I would never see you again." he said weakly, it had barely reached Trico's big ears. He tilted his head again slightly.

-I wanted to see you." he patted his muzzle again. "Have you had it good?" Trico grunted softly as answer and the man understood.

-That's good to hear." he said and glanced at Trico's wing that were fully healed and full grown, cowered in beautiful feathers, his horns were fully grown as well. He looked even bigger than last time the man had seen him, but it had been long time since last time so it wasn't so weird. Trico lifted him up by his winter jacket and sat him on his back like he had done when he was small and the full grown man even felt like a little kid again as he held into the feathers. Trico was so exited to show his friend his home and jumped over the edge to then spread out his wings and fly hich up into the air, letting the cold breeze brush against his fur. At first, Siljas became a little nervous but it quickly changed to happiness and his body relaxed, he smiled as he looked down at the world bellow them. He felt so free...


	3. Warmth

After having been flying for a while and Siljas had enjoyed feeling the wind against his face, Trico started to get lower and lower until they hit the ground, Siljas almost fell of by the movement. They were in a new forest and far away, almost covered by the trees and nature, he saw the towers they had been walking thru when he had been a child. It looked unfamiliar at first thanks to the snow. He was glad when Trico began to walk with long, graceful steps towards a cave. He had to climb up a bit to get in, a safe place from other animals that wouldn't be able to get in as easily. It was dark and only the small light from outside lit up the cave. Trico put his human friend down carefully and looked at him for a sec before he lifted his head and made a soft howling, like a call, while he looked at something in the darkness. Siljas looked the same direction and thought he saw something moving until he clearly saw two eyes stare at them. A soft noise responded to Trico's before the figure walked closer. It was another Trico, looking just like his friend but had more lighter colors on the feathers and when he had looked at it more carefully, they were even slightly smaller, but was still majestic to the human. The two creatures nuzzled each others the muzzles for a moment, this must be his mate then, before the other one studied the man in their cave. She let out a questionable noise towards his Trico, and he answered back, explaining that this was his friend and wasn't gonna harm them, his claw close to his friend, as if he was protecting him. She seemed sceptical at first and she let out a low snort while her ears drew back slightly, like she was feeling threatened. Siljas stood still so he wouldn't worry her, his body shaking from the cold, he felt like an ice cube where he stood and he held into Trico's claw. The female eventually leaned down to sniff him, her warm breath brushed against him and he almost melted into a puddle on the cave floor, his tense, frozen muscles relaxed. She tilted her head before she lifted her head up again before she said something to his Trico and then went back into the darkness. A soft dog like escaped from Trico's throat and he gently nudged Siljas further into the cave and he understood he was supposed to follow the female and his friend wanted to show him something. His eyes had gotten used to the darkness a little so he could see the female was laying down by the cave wall and he walked closer, got a little surprised when four new eyes were staring at him. His heart warmed up when he saw it was small Trico cubs, still bigger than him but wasn't even close to be half the adults size. He smiled.

-Hello there." he said softly "I'm Siljas, your father's friend." he continued even if they probably didn't understand him and sat down close to them but not too close, didn't want to anger the female who was still eyeing him carefully, her tail was around her cubs which they climbed over to get closer to the strange animal before them. Their wings were tiny, like a chickling, and their ears were held upright in curiosity, their eyes sparkled with happiness and innocence. One of them nudged him on the side with its head that was slightly bigger than himself, he almost got knocked down by the sudden force, they were really strong for being cubs. He instinctively patted them on the head and froze when he remembered that the female was watching him. But her eyes didn't hold any hate or moved to stop him like he thought she would, just looked, realized he wasn't hurting them. He continued to pet the cub and the other one nuzzled him as when, wanting to be pet as well. Trico looked pleased by this and had sat down to watch them as well with his kind eyes Siljas knew too well.

-You have a family." the man said, sounding proud "Cubs and a mate, just like me. You are safe here as well. You like it here?" he asked, which Trico responded with a soft, happy sound and the cubs jumped around playfully, making Siljas smile warmly at them again.

-I'm glad to hear that." he said. As he looked outside, it was almost completely dark and he felt tired after all his walking and finally having found his friend. He could sleep here if they wanted him to stay. After the cubs had played around for a while and Siljas played along, kicking around a stone like a football for them to chase, it was time for them to sleep and they cuddled up by their mothers warm, feathery body. Trico laid down as well beside hit mate, the cubs laying between them to warm them, and called for Siljas to lay down as well. He laid down with his friend and snuggled himself against him, lose to his giant head, which Trico laid almost around the man protectively. One of the cubs moved even closer to Siljas and laid down, even the female's eyes looked at the man more warmly and calm now and Siljas was glad he had started to gain her trust.

-Goodnight." Siljas said, they answered with small sounds before they all fell asleep. Siljas was still smiling in his sleep from where he laid, curled up near his friend and family, warm and warmth even filled his heart. He had finally found his friend and got to meet his own family, which even felt like Siljas family as well, his friend's family was his family. Trico was happy as well. He never thought he would meet his friend again but then he just happened to find him, saving him. He wished he had meet him in a more calming and normal way but they were at least together, he was alright and his mate had started to get used to him, but he knew the human couldn't stay forever, he had a family of his own but Trico promised himself and his friend he would keep him safe for as long as he stayed here and would always be there if the man needed him. He moved his head slightly closer to the sleeping man with a soft, rumbling noise, he wasn't shaking any more. They slept peacefully together the whole night while the snow fell outside...


End file.
